Two in the Afternoon......

Time for a wee look at two of the newest expression that have found there way into the shop.........

The Duthies range comes from Wm. Cadenheads and is bottled at 46% abv and has no colouring added and has not been subject to chill filtration. They have a good selection but we went straight for the top drams to see what they have to offer.

Duthies Auchroisk-20 year-old, 46%.
A soft, sweet styled Speysider with a hard to pronounce name. It's not an easy malt to get hold of but there are still some out there but not many at this age.

Rich dried fruit on the nose with a real depth. Its almost like smelling a real mature dessert wine - a real great mix between the sweetness and savoury notes. On the palate its lovely rich, almost like honey and with just such a long finish.

Duthies Highland Park-18 year-old, 46%.
Who hasn't tried Highland Park? It's one of the most loved malts of the world and there 18 year-old has one more awards than I could even count BUT what about an independent bottle of this classic - Brilliant fresh and bright on the nose, with green grass and herb garden. It then moves onto a sweet orange and mangos. The palate is lush, tangy and with a slight cigar smoke notes. A great long constant finish. A lovely dram.

We try top avoid mentioning prices on the Blog but this time I have to tell the whole world that they are both £55 a bottle...or 2 for £100!!

A sample from down the road.........

As many of you will know it's not long until the opening of the Good Spirits Co. just down the road from ourselves. Two of the best shops in Glasgow and just a short walking distance between them. Glasgow has never had it so good.

We can't wait to see what they have to offer but Mark was very kind and dropped off a small sample of their exclusive Ledaig 2005 to see what we thought of it.

So......it's peaty alright, the peat goes straight through the nose and out the top of the skull. Mixed in there are notes of woodlands and a sweet sea air. On the palate, its a fiery behemoth of a malt but not lacking in subtlety. A great lenght and a wee sweet finish too.

If this whisky is just 'good' we cant wait to see the rest!

Does it come in (Noval)Black.....

The Noval Black is the newest release from one of our favourite port producers. Ever since we first tried the LBV back in our Oddbins days we have used Noval as our port of choice. What it has above the other ports on the market is a real quality wine behind it. A good port should be rich, thick, sweet(ish) and with a good length a GREAT port should have all of the above but with a real fruit concentration that makes you wonder why you don't drink it more often. We just received our first order last week and it has been watching us from the shelves begging to be opened so we gave in and thought we'd give it a try so...........

On the nose it's light crushed red currants with a savoury note of spices and dried forest floor. On the palate it's a lovely balance with coffee, leather and a touch of sandal wood.

We tried it straight from the bottle and slightly chilled - straight from the bottle(via a glass) worked the best. Time for another glass.

Arran: A Tasting of Two Dogs

It's hard to believe that Arran Distillery has only been around since 1995. The quality of the produce and the amount of flavours that is in every expression is one hell of a feat. We first encountered Arran back in our Oddbins days when the Arran Founder's Reserve was released to the general public - it was very unbalanced with the youthful fruits fighting to climb above the alcohol and often failing. That's always been the trouble with building a distillery from scratch, there is no mature stock to trade on. You just have to hold the ship steady until you can get to an age that shows the world exactly what you can do.

Arran is about to become 16, and the boys and girls at the distillery have been busy creating a fantastic range of expressions that we knew we had to get into 121. Here are our thoughts on some of the more harder to get bottles.........but in stock at Inverarity121....hahaha

Arran Amarone Cask, 50%abv: This was one that we were not going to stock until we tried it. The colour is more like a rose wine than whisky but that's part of the joy when they don't add any colouring, natural and honest. I thought it was a super soft, attractive malt that was enriched by a red berry fruit and a milk chocolate-a-like finish that made it even more moreish than i would've thought possible. Smiley Pete thought it was so nice and tasty and so rich that it was one of the smoothest malts on the market and he loved the attractive blush from the amarone cask.

And now to the two dogs........

Machrie Moor, 46%abv: Apparently when they were putting the packaging together for the Machrie Moor the printer tried to change the name of the dog on the tin to Brian instead of Bran! I doubt the giant Fingal would've had a dog called Brian! But now, the whisky - a summer dram, lightly peated, 14ppm and the first summer drinking peat whisky I've tried. This was Pete's favourite from the tasting...which is a shame considering there are no more bottles at the distillery and we only have a few left ourselves.

Icons of Arran No. 3 "The Westie", 46abv: ahhhhhhhh it's so cute - love the bottle, wish we had it in stock for mothers day. Put together by James MacTaggart from 22 Ex-Oloroso sherry casks. This is one of those whiskies you wouldn't even have to drink, you could just nose it! Luckily, we're professionals and we also drank it. For you. As research. On the nose it was intensely fruity with tropical notes, and a punnet of pears. Intensely addictive. On the palate, it was drier than you'd expect from an Arran with green herbs (thyme), a lovely balance and a gorgeous long finish. Embrace the westie...we'll take the hair of the dog anyday! We love it and we'll hopefully see you at the Arran Open Day, Sunday 29th May. Please visit http://www.arranwhisky.com/ for detatils

Spirits Master Class @ 121

Pete studies hard for the bombarment of questions at the Naked Spirits Master Class that we had on Wednesday night!

With the increase in the spirits range we thought now was the time to show off some of the new bottles as well as revisit some old friends. We had around 20 people in the room all ready and eager to try some spirits and, hopefully, learn something too.

What we had on the night...

Old Raj Gin, 46%abv: The perfect start to the night. We served it neat straight from the fridge and then offered everyone a wee dash of tonic to complete the deal. Old Raj has become one of our favourite gins and although its great neat it makes damn near the perfect Gin and Tonic that you could taste.

Inverarity Blend, 40%abc: A fantastic wee blend that is very drinkable without being overly complex - think more large measure in front of the TV than tasting sample beside the fire.

Rum......served blind. A possible addition to the range from the West Indies that didn't capture the crowd but we thought it was a great wee sipper! However, we let the public decide and we wont be stocking this one.

Delamain Reserve de la Famille,43%abv: Fantastic! See our last blog for our thoughts.

Bruichladdich First Growth Haut Brion Cask ACE'd, 46%abv: Yum! This is one of the best of the range with just the right amount of tannins on the plate. It would be brilliant to try this next to some Haut Brion but the wine is around four times more expensive than the whisky.

Arran Amerone, 50%abv: This was one malt that we were not going to stock until we were offered a sample by the distillery and fell in love with it. The colour is almost rose pink but thats what happens when distillers don't worry about adding colouring. To taste it is mouth watering good - tonnes of the Arran style flavours but all with undertones of red berry fruit and milk chocolate - we sold out of this one after the tasting....must order more.

Springbank-15 year-old, 46%abv: A constant favourite since we first started stocking it. Much sweeter in style than the Springbank-12 year-old and full of elegance, and citrus richness.

Hazelburn-8 year-old Sauternes Wood Finish, 55.9%abv: We reviewed the complete Hazelburn range at the start of this week and I was more than happy to try it again. Such a complex dram for such a young whisky. See its not always about the age of the whisky but the quality.

So until the next time keep sampling!

Cognac Tasting.....gets the thumbs up!

Not one of the spirits that we head straight to but who could resist the chance to try three fantastic releases from the famous cognac house Delamain.

Founded back 1n 1824(the same year as Macallan!) the house of Delamain has been releasing top range cognacs - their entry level selection is an XO - why bother with VSOP's! What we tried....

Delamain XO "Pale & Dry", 40%abv: A lovely grapey nose with touches of coffee and cream. On the palate more soft grapes and a long soft, silky finish.

Delamain Vesper, 40%abv: More fragrant and integrated than the XO, green grass and subtle oak too. To sip it is sooooo much smoother than the XO but it is a light bit tougher to pull out any distinctive notes but a beautiful drink none the less.

Delamain Reserve de la Famille, 43%abv: This is a single, vineyard, single cask cognac of around 50-60 years old. The nose was impressive with tobacco, soft oak, leather and touch of sulphur. On the palate it was sweet, rich, full of plums, raisins and more tobacco. Sweet oak and dried herbs come just at the finish. smooth and beautiful.

So three cognac and thumbs up all round - no wonder Pete looks so happy.

A Trio of Hazelburns....

We got a lovely surprise when Springbank popped some samples through our door and an even bigger smile when we realised that we can now have a go at a vertical Hazelburn tasting.

For those in the 'know' Hazelburn is the name used for the un-peated triple distilled malt from Sprinbank. Taking the name from one of the number of Campbeltown whisky distilleries that closed down in the 1920's. They have only been producing the Hazelburn since 1997.

So now the whiskies.....

Hazelburn-8 year-old, 46%abv: Sweet styled, vanilla pods and short bread. On the plate there is a real sweetness that just makes the mouth water.

Hazelburn-12 year-old, 46%abv: I thought that the nose was not as distinctive as the 8 year-old but on the palate - WOW - It's still sweet but now its massive! Vanilla, sweet oak, chocolate, oranges and some dried spices.
For another opinion check out Ralfy's review of the Hazelburn-12 year-old http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhnyjwYT6w4

Hazelburn-8 year-old Sauternes Wood, 55.9%abv: A limited edition expression (9180 bottles world-wide) that has spent 5 years in Refill Bourbon Cask and a further 3 years in Sauternes Cask...........a heavenly experience in a glass! The nose is rich and strong with aromas of oranges, raisins and a lovely touch of salt that stops it becoming too sweet. On the palate it really has a great mouth feel, it also has a lovely whiff of smoke at the back.

And after all that hard work I think I deserve a wee glass of Old Raj Gin!!